Currently using the phono stage on my Kandy K2, How much would I have to spend on a dedicated phono amp to improve on my existing set up and what results could I expect. Although I haven't heard a dedicated phono amp I like what I've read about the Lehmann Black Cube and the Trichord Dino.

I really rate the Trichord Dino (in fact I've got two of them on the go at the minute) - I upgraded from a Project Phonbox and noticed a real difference - much smoother sound but with more detail - just really sounded a lot better to me.

One of my Dino's is mark 1, the other is a mark 2 - and if I'm honest I can't hear much difference between them (if you are thinking of buying second hand) - but my Mark 1 is one of the last mark 1s (not sure if that makes a difference). If you feel like it you can upgrade the power supply too.

I currently use one of mine with a Systemdek IIX900 - seems a good match to me.

I'm also interested in hearing about this with a view of upgrading my CA640p, although I'd be happy to be told not to bother as it's more a case of upgraditis than any pressing need to fix anything in particular!

I've been wondering the same as Margetti over the last few days, but I'm loath to lash out loads of money (to me!) on a seperate phono amp when the onboard phono stage on my PM7001 seems to be doing a really good job.

Last year when I had my Uniti I ran a Pro-Ject phonobox which I picked up for £50 and it did a sterling job. Then someone I knew through work let me borrow a Croft Acoustics RIAA Phono Stage, cost new £500. I ran it for a good 4/5 weeks, playing vinyl virtually everyday and I came to the conclusion that I could not tell any meaningful difference betweem the Pro-Ject and the Croft. I thought perhaps it might have been a bit smoother but maybe I was just trying to convince myself this was the case and just imagined it. Either way I passed up the chance to buy the Croft.

Thanks for the replies so far. Probably the only way to really tell is to home demo something. The last time I spoke to a dealer about 10 monthsa ago, he reckoned something like an ex-dem Moon LP3 would be a step up.

My old amp was an Arcam alpha 7 and although I was using a different TT then, I feel the phono stage on the Arcam was probably better (to my ears) than the Roksan - not that the Roksan is bad, I just believe the Arcam was underated overall.

Having read many an opinion - of which there seems little consensus - that certainly is going to be the only way to be sure (and of course one person's "significant" improvement is another's "slight but not worth the additional outlay" improvement). Depends where exactly you read it of course, but for example I've seen the CA640P described as being anything from completely rubbish to utterly brilliant.

Not so easy to home demo when buying second-hand - I guess you could take a risk of buying something and shifting on again if you weren't enthralled, so it would be good to hear what the WHF technical editor's thoughts are.

No - I am keeping an eye open for a used phono amp that I might take a punt on. If it doesn't work I would hopefully be able to move it on. A fairly local dealer was selling a Dynavetor P75 but I missed out on that. Mrs Trap 6 isn't happy that I'm looking for another 'box'.

Yes - I recently installed an Origin Live Counterweight and that has made a significant difference to the sound. Well worth it to my mind.

what's your final decision, and how was the result?I'm in a similar position, using the phono from the K2. How was the Croft RIAA? A store is offering a Near Mint unit of the Croft RIAA, price seems reasonable (new unit is around GBP 500)